Before a roaring crowd at the Port of Stockton, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson made a new appeal for voters to elect to Congress a familiar face in Stockton politics.
The race for California’s 13th congressional district, where former Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln is challenging incumbent Rep. Adam Gray of Merced, has national implications, Johnson said.
“This is a top five race in America right now,” Johnson told the roughly 200 people gathered Wednesday at a rally to support Lincoln. “That’s why I’m here today.”
Roughly 21 races will determine whether Republicans maintain control of the House in November. And California’s agriculture-heavy District 13 may be one of them, based on the number of Johnson’s campaign stops to the region this year.
The local race is one Republicans have poured millions of dollars into, with dozens of state and national party leaders publicly endorsing Lincoln — including an early backing from President Donald Trump.
Lincoln, who initially filed to challenge Rep. Josh Harder again in District 9 after losing to him in 2024, switched to run against Gray after voters approved Proposition 50, which redrew California’s congressional lines. Gray narrowly won the seat in 2024 in the last House race to be called.
At Wednesday’s rally, dozens of Republican leaders showed up to support Lincoln, including House members Tom McClintock of California and Reps. Craig Goldman and Brandon Gill, both of Texas.
Lincoln, a former Marine and church administrator, took the stage to the song “My Town” by Montgomery Gentry. He opened with a story about his family’s roots in Stockton just miles from where the rally was held. His grandfather, from Mexico, worked at a cannery near the port for 40 years before becoming a U.S. citizen, Lincoln said.
“I stand here today to tell you that Kevin Lincoln has never forgotten where he came from,” he said. “The Central Valley is my home. These are my people, and this is the community that I love.”
In an interview after the rally, Lincoln called the support he’s received “humbling” and “unprecedented.”
“As a candidate, you feel the weight on your shoulders,” he said. “But it’s a good weight, and it’s something I embrace. It’s something that I see as a call to service for my community, for our state and for our nation.”
Despite the party’s optimism, voter registration records indicate that the redrawn district — which now includes south Stockton — may still lean Democrat. Before it was redrawn, 42.3% of voters in the district were registered as Democrats.
Even with those odds, Lincoln is encouraged at his chances in the general election. He noted the 187-vote margin that led to Gray’s flipping the congressional seat from Republican incumbent John Duarte in 2024.
“That’s a number I’ll never forget,” Lincoln told Stocktonia. But this race, he added, “is about the people of the Valley,” adding that his focus, if elected, will be lowering the cost of living and expanding access to healthcare.
Johnson told the crowd that polling from left-leaning outlets about Republicans struggling in the midterms is “wrong.”
“This is different than any midterm because people know the stakes,” said Johnson, who suggested the vote boils down to a constitutional republic and the Democratic party’s “Marxist left.”
But Manuel Zapata, chair of the San Joaquin County Democratic Central Committee, challenged the House speaker’s characterization of the California District 13 race as being one of the country’s most competitive.
“Mike Johnson’s going to come over here and try to rally the troops and try to get everybody on board. … But we understand Kevin Lincoln as a candidate isn’t very strong,” he said.
Republicans have continued to back candidates here despite past losses, he noted, offering Tom Patti as an example. Patti, a former San Joaquin County supervisor, is challenging incumbent state Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom after unsuccessful bids for Congress in 2022 and Stockton mayor in 2024. Candidates like Lincoln and Patti are being run “into the ground,” Zapata said.
“We need people that are proud of California that are going to stand with people that are proud of California, to represent our beautiful Central Valley and give it the representation that we deserve,” he added.
As Republican speakers took the stage one after another on Wednesday, Timothy Flood was among those waving rally signs from the center row. Flood’s sign identified him as a veteran, as did the pins covering his ball cap touting his military service, including 19 months in Vietnam serving as an aerial scout aboard a combat helicopter.
Flood, a retired production foreman from Stockton, said he came out mainly to see Johnson and show his support for the Republican Party. There with his cousin, Flood said rallies like Lincoln’s give a chance to connect face to face with elected officials and those running for office.
Of Lincoln, Flood said the former Stockton mayor brought stability during his time in office.
“He brought being honest to the city,” the 75-year-old said.
When it comes to Lincoln’s chances of winning, Flood said it’s a matter of being willing to try.
“If you don’t get out and go for it, you’ll never have a shot,” he said. “It’s like a no-win situation. It’s a yes or no. You either get it or you don’t. But if you don’t get out and try, you’re not going to get nothing.”